Texas Long Course Senior Circuit: U.S. Olympians Win On Night Two

By David Rieder

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 8. AMERICAN Olympians Breeja Larson and Cammile Adams each earned victories on the second of three days of action at their home pool at Texas A&M University, while Ricky Berens put up a strong swim in prelims before leaving the meet. Meanwhile, 16 year old showed her cards as a legitimate challenger at the national level in the 200 free.

Larson picked up the win in the women's 100 breast. Larson finished in 1:08.09, well short of her lifetime best of 1:05.92 she swam while winning the Olympic Trials last summer. She also fell well short of the 1:06.86 that Jessica Hardy swam last week to lead all Americans this year. Longhorn's Laura Sogar earned her second podium finish after winning the 200 breast on Friday with a second-place time of 1:08.44. Longhorn's Gretchen Jaques took third in 1:10.05.

Adams, the Olympic Trials winner in the 200 fly, grabbed the win in the shorter 100 fly, coming in at 1:00.62. Longhorn's Ellen Lobb beat out Rice's Casey Clark for second, 1:01.16 to 1:01.26. Adams returned later to finish second in the 400 IM. Longhorn's Kaitlin Pawlowicz won the race in 4:50.59, while Adams touched in 4:52.00. Aggie's Sarah Henry came in third at 4:52.55.

In the prelims of the men's 200 free, Berens posted a time of 1:48.42. That easily surpassed the 1:49.50 he swam at the Charlotte Grand Prix last month, but he narrowly missed his season best, a 1:48.39 from March. Metro's Sam Lewis dominated the event final, winning in 1:51.56. Longhorn's Ian LeMaistre finished second in 1:56.93, while Aggie's Bryan Michaels picked up third in 1:57.43.

Longhorn's Quinn Carrozza blazed the women's 200 free final with a 1:58.36. Carrozza, 16, swam a time that only three Americans have bested this year, and all of them (Katie Ledecky, Missy Franklin, and Allison Schmitt) won Olympic gold medals last summer. With six qualifying spots available for the 800 free relay team at the upcoming World Championships, Carrozza has positioned herself to challenge for one of those spots. Meanwhile, Longhorn's Sam Tucker finished second in 2:01.92, and Aggie's Liliana Ibanez Lopez finished third in 2:04.57.

Denver Swim Academy's Clark Smith took the men's 100 fly in 54.06. Magnolia's Cannon Clifton grabbed second in 56.10, and Nitro's Mason Tenney came in third at 56.67. Longhorn's Christian Schurr cruised in the men's 100 breast with a 1:03.70, easily out-distancing teammates Ian Carbone and Matt Korman. Carbone touched out Korman for second, 1:05.98 to 1:06.13.

Longhorn swimmers finished 1-2 in the women's 50 back. Sarah Denninghoff won in 28.99, while Alex Hooper finished second in 29.78, while Aggie's Paige Miller finished third in 30.31. Eagle's Steven Richardson took the men's 50 back in 27.84. Brenham's Guy Buls picked up second in 28.64, and Alex Robinson came in third at 29.05. Aggie's Hayden Duplechain concluded the night with a men's 400 IM win in 4:35.29. Nitro's Josh Anderson grabbed second in 4:38.05, while teammate Mason Tenney touched third in 4:40.15.